EDA’s Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship is committed to furthering tech-based economic development initiatives that accelerate high-skill and high-wage job growth, create economic opportunity, and support the future of the next generation of industry leading companies. Funding is available for organizations that aid companies in developing the next generation of technologies. Under the Build to Scale Program, EDA is soliciting applications for two competitions:

• 2023 Venture Challenge
• 2023 Capital Challenge.

Under the Venture Challenge, EDA seeks competitive proposals that support technology entrepreneurship and accelerate company growth in their community, region, or combination of regions.

The Capital Challenge provides operational support for the formation, launch, or scale of investment funds that seek to raise equity-based capital to deploy in scalable startups (e.g., angel, seed, or venture funds) or of organizations that expand equity-based capital access and deployment within a community, region, or regional industry (e.g., angel networks or investor training programs). The Capital Challenge does not support strictly debt-based capital.